Vegan Pink Champagne Cake
RECIPE BELOW!! It’s mine and my husbands’ 7th anniversary! 🎉🥳 👰🏼 🤵🏼 I’m celebrating by recreating our wedding cake in vegan form! Let me tell ya... this cake is probably one of my favorites of all time!
It took 3 attempts to get everything right: texture, flavor, etc. and it’s really paid off! You'll notice this cake isn't really THAT pink, and it's because I chose to not put food coloring in the cake. I wanted more natural flavors/color. Many of the store bought cakes will put dye in it so that it appears more pink. I think it's a little overrated. The cake tastes great, why color it?! 💕
This pink champagne cake is a very light pink from the natural colors of strawberries and the champagne, and it has that delish sweet & tangy bite that you always think of when you think of champagne cake!
We had a large wedding with 5 different smaller cakes and all different flavors. To my dismay, the cake from our wedding pictures was almond flavor, not the champagne! This cake was so important to me that on our wedding night, as guests were lined up with sparklers ready to send us off, I went to the cake table and cut into it so that I could have a piece of this flavor on my wedding day. I’ve deemed it our true wedding cake flavor!
Enjoy! 🥂
Vegan Pink Champagne Cake
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup blush champagne (moscato tastes best! Rosé good alternative and makes slightly pinker batter)
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup fresh puréed strawberries
- 2 Tbsps non-whipped aquafaba (juice from a can of chickpeas)
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (white for more pink colored cake)
- Couple drops of red food coloring for pink color (optional. I don't do this and go for the more natural cake! Though most really pink cakes have the food coloring for enhancement)
- ~ Freshly sliced strawberries, for filling (opt)
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 6 Tbsps vegan butter (Earth Balance STICKS -- they work best!)
- 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I like almond for icing recipes)
- 3-4 tsps vanilla extract (use artificial for more pure white colored icing)
Instructions
- PREHEAT oven to 350F. Grease pans you will be using (I used 2 round pans). RINSE strawberries.
- WHISK DRY INGREDIENTS together until combined.
- MIX WET INGREDIENTS together until combined.
- ADD WET INGREDIENTS TO THE DRY INGREDIENTS until well combined, careful not to over mix, as it results in a chewy cake instead of crumbly.
- Pour into prepared pan(s) and BAKE for 25-30 min, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- ~ If filling with strawberries, sliced them now & have them sitting on paper towels to soak up moisture. Try coating in powdered sugar to soak up moisture!
- 6. LET COOL AND ICE CAKE: Let cakes cool. Make the icing. Put layer of icing on top the first layer cake, press strawberry slices COVERED IN POWDERED SUGAR into the icing (staying away from the edges of the cake! If there's still moisture in the strawberries it could leak out the sides), then fully cover with another layer of icing to seal in strawberries. Stack the next cake. Smooth the icing layer, then add icing and decorate to your desire.
- 7. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
~ I liked the moscato pink champagne better than rosé, though pick which one you like better.
~ Use imitation vanilla if trying to not alter cake and icing color.
~ Try coating the strawberries in sugar before placing between the layers to also help with bleeding and sliding. No matter what though, berries will eventually bleed as they sit. Keep that in mind if doing the strawberry filling, and try to assemble as close to serving time as possible!
~ Stay within 1" on the inside of the cake when placing fruit to help it not bleed out.
~ I used a ruffle tip to decorate